2009 has seen a change in direction for the Friends of GOVI, but first of all I would like to welcome Pip Land as a new trustee. Pip sorts, arranges and edits articles and photographs and, with the guidance and help of the webmaster, Carol Haynes, posts them on our website. All who use the website will agree a fantastic job has been done. I have received several positive comments regarding the excellence of the content.

When Joan and I visited the Gambia in April last year we found that the school looked great. This was because, thanks to the hard work of Lamin Saidy, washable paint had been used on the lower half of the walls in the classrooms. This had followed the success of using such paint on the walls of the veranda and had made that area so much easier to clean. As the Friends’ representative in the Gambia, Lamin Saidy continued doing an excellent job of organising the electrical, plumbing, painting and general maintenance during the early part of the year.

The former head teacher, Sarjo Bajinka, and his deputy, Kalilu Saidy had joined the Government’s Education Department, the latter being transferred to the examination board. Sarjo Bajinka was transferred to the education department for disability and became responsible for its Integrated Education Programme (IEP). In 2008 we were concerned about the lack of equipment and some pupils missing out on examinations (see 2008 report). Now with the enthusiasm of Sarjo Bajinka and his team together with the Head of Department, Mr Sanneh, the integration programme is working well.

A donation from the Chief Constable of Norfolk made it possible to install four new computers at the school, along with type and talk software for the visually impaired called Thunder thanks to a wonderful philanthropic gesture on the World Wide Web.

When Joan and I visited in November it was sad to see that general maintenance work had not been carried out. There had also been problems with the feeding programme. This was because the GOVI Board had insisted that all funds for any works or projects had to be handed over to them and Lamin Saidy had been prevented from doing any work. When we met with a few of the GOVI Board we were told that all of our funds had to go via them. This was contrary to the original Memorandum of Understanding drawn up between the Friends of GOVI and the Board. Agreement was reached, however, that Lamin Saidy would be allowed to organise and pay for school repairs.

The Friends will not budge from our policy that all our funds will be spent with our approval for the children and must be properly receipted with an audit trail. After meetings with the Permanent Secretary of State for Education and other heads of departments a satisfactory outcome was negotiated for the provision of the school’s breakfast programme and school uniforms which will be properly audited and receipted. (The head teacher, Ali Sallah, later reported this arrangement was working well.)

A request has been received from the Government that when Friends trustees visit in April 2010 that there should be a meeting with all parties to see if a resolution can be found. This hopefully might result in a Goal Ball Court being built at the school (see Football Gift)

During our stay in November a fun day was organised for the school children funded by the Friends. The female teachers worked hard in the kitchen and Joan joined them, while the male staff were busy organising football and goal ball. Some of the girls helped with preparing food while others enjoyed the games in the hall. A good day was had by all. A big thank you to all the staff for their hard work, not only on that day but throughout the year.

I wish to thank fellow trustee, David Pointon, and the Yorkshire Team in their endeavours to transport a special vehicle and equipment to the Gambia (see the Journey Blog, More Gifts and Toy Day) and their fantastic fundraising throughout the year.

I also want to say a big thankyou to all our sponsors, members, schools, groups and individuals for their support, without which so many visually impaired children in the Gambia would not have the chance of education and a better life.

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